Caria
by kat69d
Summary: A twist in the movie 'Hostage'...some minor language...hope you enjoy...
1. Chapter 1

_Note: I do not own 'Hostage'...I do own Caria Warner...I take liberties in this story...Mars is not as bad as in the movie... _

"I am reporting to you from outside the police barricade. We were told that three armed men took a family hostage, here in Bristo Camino. The truck behind me is believed to belong to the men. Chief Jeff Talley is on the phone with one of them now."

I caught the close up of the truck out of the corner of my eye. I dropped the two empty mugs I was carrying and they broke. I went up to the TV and watched. They had Chief Talley discussing what was happening.

"Caria, you OK?"

"Um…I don't know. I gotta make a phone call."

I hurried to the back and called the police station.

"Bristo Camino Police Department. How may I help you?"

"I'm Caria Warner. I saw the footage of the hostage situation. I recognize the truck. I think I know who's doing this."

"Where are you? The Chief would want to talk to you."

"I'm at work. The café is a couple blocks away, on the corner of Main Street."

"I'll send a patrol car to come and get you. He'll take you up to the Chief. Sit tight and he'll be there any minute."

"Thank you."

I grabbed my stuff from the backroom and went out front.

"Cheryl, I'm leaving a bit early. There's something I gotta do."

"No prob. Dean should be here in half an hour anyway. Go lie down. You don't look good."

The patrol car pulled up and the officer got out.

"I'm Officer Hudson. Are you Caria Warner?"

"Yes."

He opened the back door for me and closed it behind me. I'd never been in a patrol car before and it was weird. Officer Hudson drove in silence but I could tell he was wondering how I knew them. I didn't really know all of them, just one more than the others.

We drove through the barricade and up to the command center. Officer Hudson helped me out and led me to Chief Talley.

"Chief, this is Caria Warner. She's the one that called about knowing the perps."

"Ms. Warner, we've traced the car to a Dennis Kelly. Is that correct?"

"I don't know his last name. I was introduced to him about a month ago. You say there's three of them in there. His brother, Kevin, is probably the third guy. I really only know Marshall. The three of them came into the café awhile back. Marshall introduced us and then hightailed it out of there before really talking to me."

"What is his last name?"

"Krupcheck. He had a troubled childhood – his father was gone and his mother beat him. He told me he had a juvie record but has been clean for several years now.

"Chief, I might be able to get through to him if you let me talk to him."

"Ms. Warner that might not be a good idea. We don't want to do anything to set anyone off."

"Right now, I'm the only person you have who has an idea of what might be going on in there. Please, let me try to talk to him," I pleaded.

"OK, but if anything starts to happen, I'm pulling the plug."

He called and someone picked up.


	2. Chapter 2

_Note: I do not own 'Hostage'...I do own Caria Warner...I take liberties in this story...Mars is not as bad as in the movie... _

"Dennis, there's someone here that wants to talk to you and whoever else is in the house."

He handed the phone over to me.

"Hey, Dennis. It's Caria. I met you and your brother about a month ago."

"What do you want?"

"I saw this on the news and I thought I'd try to help. I want to speak to Marshall."

"Are you telling me to do something, bitch?"

"Of course not. You're in charge. Please, Dennis. There's something important that I want to tell him. That is if you will do me this one favor. I'd be very grateful if you allowed me to talk to Marshall."

Marshall wasn't the only one to have a troubled childhood. My father used to abuse me, every which way imaginable, so I knew how to talk to someone who was on the edge. That was until my mother left him and remarried when I was 14.

"Tell me and if I think it's important enough, then I'll let you talk to my man Mars."

"He moved out before I had a chance to tell him that I was pregnant. I found out the day he left. I tried to tell him that day in the café but you pulled him out of there before I could."

"Hey, Mars. Your old lady is on the phone…yeah, Caria. There's something you gotta hear."

The phone was passed over to someone.

"Hi, Marshall. I came down here to see why you're doing this. That and I've been trying to tell you something whenever I see you but it's not that often. Marshall, why did you leave? I came home and you were gone. You had packed and left. Why?"

He was silent. That was Marshall for you. Dark, silent, and brooding.

"OK. Since I've got you on the phone, I'm going to tell you now. That day you left, I had been to the doctor's. He told me I was pregnant. I still am. I'm due in a couple of months.

"That day in the café, you couldn't see from where I was standing. I tried to tell you but you left so quickly. That's why I've come down here, to tell you that you're going to be a father. Will you please let the family go and come down here?"

The phone went dead. He hung up on me.

Chief Talley and the other officers looked at me. I pressed the redial button and it just rang. No one was picking up.

"He's like this. Silent but always thinking. He should be calling back any minute."

He didn't. No one did for over an hour. Chief Talley tried calling them but no answer. I told him I'd get on a bullhorn and talk that way, if I was needed to.

"Ms. Warner, you tried to reason with him. I think if he was going to come out, he'd have done it by now."

"Chief Talley, I know Marshall. We dated for over a year. He's thinking out his options – probably figuring how to convince the others to give up. He'll want to do as little jail time with the baby coming – he is going to have to go to jail, right?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Please, Chief Talley, let me stay. You might need me later, if he calls back."

"OK. Do you need anything?"

"Just a bathroom."

An officer showed me to the port-a-potty and I got a good glimpse of the house. It was a huge house, gated, and in full floodlights. There were covers over the windows.

"Thanks, Officer. I'll find my way back."

I looked at the house a bit more before using the port-a-potty. Attached to the outside was a large bottle of antibacterial gel so I used that to clean my hands with.

My cell rang and I fished it out of my bag. Whoever was calling me was coming up as a private caller.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"I thought you couldn't dial out. It would just go straight to their command center."

"The dad's cell phone. Dennis won't leave. He found a shit load of money. He won't leave without it."

"Marshall, don't worry about Dennis. Just come out. We'll work out the jail time. I'll call my step-dad to help us."

"Boy or girl?"

"I didn't want to know. The nursery is going to be done in greens and browns. You know, earthy tones. Please come out. We'll work it out. I love you."

"Me too."

He hung up. I went into my phone directory and called my step-dad.

"Hi, Caria."

"Hey, John. Sorry to be calling so late but I have a problem. Have you been watching the news?"

"Yes, why?"

"I know one of the guys that took that family hostage. He wants out – turn himself in. I was hoping you could come down and work out a deal."

"How well do you know him?"

"He's the father."

"Ah. Sure. It'll take me awhile to get there but I'll be there."

"Thanks."

A year after remarrying, my mother died of cancer. Since then, John raised me. When I moved out on my own, I don't get to see him that often but we talk on the phone and through email a lot. I'm lucky to have someone that would drive a couple of hours to represent the father of my child.


	3. Chapter 3

_Note: I do not own 'Hostage'...I do own Caria Warner...I take liberties in this story...Mars is not as bad as in the movie... _

I made my way back to the command center and took a seat. A female officer had joined the others but her arm was in a sling.

"Ms. Warner."

"Huh? Yeah?"

"He's on the phone and wants to talk to you," Chief Talley said, passing the phone to me.

"Marshall."

"No, it's Kevin. Neither of them knows I'm doing this. My brother beat the father and now he's unconscious. His head is all bruised and started to shake. He really needs to see a doctor."

"Where's the others?"

"Mars is checking on the kids. Dennis is counting the money again."

"Hang up. We'll keep calling, letting the phone ring and ring. If Dennis doesn't pick up, take the phone to him and complain about the ringing."

I got off the phone and told them what's going on.

"We need to convince Dennis to let us take the dad out," Chief Talley said.

He took the phone and kept calling. He seemed anxious and worried, but something was odd with it. On the seventh call, Dennis finally picked up.

"Dennis, it's Chief Talley. We really need to talk to Mr. Smith…why can't he come to the phone?… what happened?…Dennis, we need to get him out. You don't need him to die on you. You've already shot a cop. I'll come up and get him myself."

Chief Talley looked at me and turned away.

"No. That's not an option."

He hung up the phone and put his hand in his pocket.

"Chief, what did he say?" an officer asked.

"He'll release Mr. Smith if Ms. Warner takes his place."

"Did he say anything about the kids?" I asked.

"No."

"Call him back and tell him that if he releases them, I'll do it."

"Ms. Warner, I cannot risk you and your unborn baby."

"Chief, would you rather have two kids with no father and further risk on their lives or three freed hostages? Marshall will not allow anything to happen to me."

I grabbed a sheet of paper from my bag and wrote on it. I signed it and handed it over.

"Here. I release you from any liability."

I grabbed the phone and called. Chief Talley tried to stop me but I held my hand out to stop him.

"Dennis, on one condition will I agree to your demands and that being you release the kids too. If you release the Smith family, I'll come up."

"Fine. Ten minutes. You, the Chief, and a stretcher. No weapons. Hey, Mars…" Dennis yelled before hanging up.

"We'll need a stretcher."

A cell phone rang and Chief Talley went still. He fished one out of his pocket.

"Go, Louise…put him on…Hey Tommy. Did you get a chance to do as I asked?…A Benjamin is a hundred dollar bill. How many benjamins, Tommy?"

Chief Talley looked over at the other officers and continued to talk to Tommy. I grabbed my notebook and wrote a not to John. I explained what was going on and what I needed him to do.

"Ms. Warner, things got a bit more complicated. Tommy, the son of Mr. Smith, says they found his dad's money. Lots of it. Clearly, Dennis doesn't care about who the hostages are as long as he can take the money. When you get in there, tell him we can get a helicopter here in half an hour. We'll take him anywhere he wants to go."

My cell rang and it was a private caller again.

"Hey."

"Caria, what the fuck do you think you're going? Trading your life for people you haven't even met. What about the baby?"

"It's going to be OK. I know you wouldn't let anything happen to me. We're coming up."

"Who was that?" Chief Talley asked.

"Marshall. I guess he heard of what's happening. Please give this to John Warner. He's on his way up from LA."

Chief Talley and I went up the hill pushing the stretcher. We got to the gate and they opened. Before we could get in, shots rang out. Chief Talley pulled me down behind the stretcher in case there was more but it was only two shots.

"Stay here."

The front door opened and two people ran out. One was a ten year old boy and the other, a teenaged girl that looked like me. Maybe she was the reason why Marshall didn't want to leave. He was worried about what Dennis might do to her.

"He shot him. He shot him," the boy, Tommy, screamed.

Chief Talley got up and the kids ran over to him. The boy gave something to the Chief and he stuck it into his waistband. A figure came to the doorway with its hands up.

"I'm unarmed."

I recognized the voice as Kevin's. If he was there, where were Marshall and Dennis? I got up and ran past Chief Talley. I took the stairs two at a time and went up to Kevin.

"Kevin, where's Marshall?"

"Inside. We were supposed to go to a movie but Dennis wanted…"

Chief Talley and other officers were yelling at me but I went past Kevin into the house. I smelled it before I saw it. The air was filled with a metallic taste.

In the living room, Dennis was on the floor. There was blood all around him. He wasn't moving. I scanned the room but couldn't see Marshall. I heard a noise behind me and there he was, on the floor, bleeding.

"I wasn't going to let him hurt you or the baby."

Officers piled into the house with their weapons drawn.

"We need an ambulance. He's been shot," I yelled.

Chief Talley came around the corner and saw Marshall.

"Where's Mr. Smith?"

"In the office."

The officers cleared the way for an EMT. They wrapped the wound and got Marshall onto a stretcher. A second stretcher came out of the office with an older man on it. Chief Talley was on a cell talking to someone. I overheard the words Heaven Can Wait but didn't really think twice about it.

"Mr. Krupcheck, we'll be taking you to the hospital and when able, we'll need your statement."

I rode with Marshall in the ambulance. I called John and told him to meet us at the hospital. I held Marshall's hand and told him it was going to be OK.

And it was. The bullet went through and through, missing anything vital. He stayed in the hospital for a couple of days for observation.

Mr. Smith was in the hospital in stable condition. Dennis really did a number when he beat him. He had some swelling and a concussion. The kids, Tommy and Jennifer, wouldn't leave his side. One night, all three of them disappeared. Even Chief Talley had no clue where they went.

John worked out a plea bargain for Kevin and Marshall. Kevin got put in a juvenile detention facility until his 18th birthday. Marshall had to do a year in jail and then be on probation. One stipulation was that he was there when our baby was born and he was. He held my hand the entire birth and even cut our son's umbilical cord. When he gets out, we plan on getting married and being a family.


End file.
